Journal of Criminal Law and CriminologyVolume 24Issue 3 September-October Article 12

Fall 1933

Practical Use of Police Records SystemDonald C. Stone

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Recommended CitationDonald C. Stone, Practical Use of Police Records System, 24 Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 668 (1933-1934)

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utilizing the Division's facilities on January 1, 1933, realize that itscooperation is a potent weapon in effective law enforcement. It isinteresting to observe that several of the 24 states which maintainstate bureaus of identification require in their own statutes that finger-prints shall be forwarded to the Division in the cases of individualsarrested within their jurisdiction charged with various offenses.While there is no Federal Law requiring the states to cooperate withthe Division's identification work, they thus recognize the identifica-tion activities of the Federal Government as an aid to proper locallaw enforcement.

It is the policy of the Division of Investigation to reply toall fingerprint records within 36 hours after receipt to insure toits contributors the prompt service which is so necessary to handleeffectively the cases of many individuals who are taken into custody.Also, through the medium of a section devoted to the handling ofwanted notices on individuals whose apprehension is desired for anyoffenses, over 350 fugitives are identified each month. These are per-sons who are wanted for offenses ranging from petty larceny tomurder, or as escaped prisoners, parole or probation violators.

PRACTICAL USE OF POLICE RECORDS SYSTEM

DONALD C. STONE2

In view of the present necessity for rigid economy in city andpolice affairs, some police departments are asking if they can affordto install and operate a well-rounded records system. Would it notbe preferable to use the money to concentrate men on outside policework? Are these inside duties really necessary? These are questionswhich I encounter very frequently these days.

My reply is, that rather than less need, there is more need thanever for an adequate records system which will supply to policeofficials facts concerning crime conditions and the results attainedby their departments in coping with them. Moreover, records areessential in the day-to-day administration and control of any depart-ment. In their absence, the organization, no matter how high thecaliber of its officials, will tend to disintegrate; individual officerswill fail in the handling of specific cases; the department will not

'Paper presented before the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police.2Director, Consulting and Research Division, Public Administration Service.

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be able to keep abreast of the ever-changing problems of crime. Therecords system is the compass by means of which police officials mayguide their organizations in their attack upon lawlessness, and with-out which the police ship cannot be safely guided into port. Otherwisethe department, must operate blindly, shooting ahead first on onecourse and then on another, without reaching its intended destination.I have found this to be true for European departments. It holdsequally well for American forces.

There are three main purposes of a police records and identi-fication system which I should like to discuss. These purposes are:

(1) To maintain a control over all police business through the use ofthe follow-up principle which will assure that all matters requir-ing investigation or attention are properly cared for. This is aproblem of day-to-day administration.

(2) To provide analyses of police problems and of the work of thedepartment so that the force may be better distributed andassigned to its duties, and the relative effectiveness of differentmethods ascertained. This aspect includes the use of varioustypes of crime statistics in applying strategy to the managementof police affairs.

(3) To assist in the investigation and disposition of particular crimesthrough such devices as fingerprint systems, photography, ModusOperandi, files of criminal histories, and the like.

Before discussing the operation of the records and identificationsystem in attaining these three purposes, I should like to refer to theposition of a records bureau in a police organization. All records andidentification services should be centralized in a single bureau andplaced under a young, alert, intelligent, and progressive officer who re-ports directly to the chief of police. Irrespective of the size of the de-partment, all offense reports, arrest records, summonses, lost andstolen property records, traffic records, personnel records, finger-prints, photographs, criminal histories, Modus Operandi, handwriting,missing persons, accidents, correspondence, and other records shouldbe administered by this central bureau.

Attached to this records bureau should be a central complaintdesk where citizens can bring their troubles or obtain information,and over which a continuous transaction of business may be carriedon between police officers and the records bureau. At this centralcomplaint desk should be located the main communications of thedepartment. The telephone system and call boxes should tie up toa switchboard here and all criminal complaints be received here aswell. If a radio and teletype is installed, the microphone or trans-

DONALD C. STONE

mitter should be at this point. Thus the complaint desk becomes thefocal point for all police activity. It knows everything that is goingon. It is indispensable in emergencies. Preferably it should belocated adjacent to the detective bureau on one side and to the chief'soffice on the other.

In large metropolitan police departments the sheer size of theorganization may prevent a compact layout of the records bureau,complaint desk, and communications. The above principles, how-ever should be followed in so far as possible.

The Follow-Up System of Control

No police organization can rely solely upon the individual in-itiative of its members to execute all of the many duties of investiga-tion and inspection and to follow such matters through to completion.Some method must therefore be devised by the chief which will assurethat all police business is conducted properly and with dispatch. Thefollow-up system has proved the best method designed to date. Themajority of police departments observe the follow-up principle to someextent with respect to the investigation of major crimes but even hereI have found many departments in which there is no thorough reviewof investigation reports before unsolved cases are closed or dis-continued. With respect to the majority of complaints and investi-gations, such as a report by Mrs. Cheeseborough that the neighbors'chickens have invaded her garden, or a complaint by Mr. Gump thatthe radio next door is making an outlandish nocturnal disturbanceof the peace, too many departments do not maintain a rigorous follow-up system. Although to a police department such complaints areminor and insignificant, the manner in which they are handled willdetermine the attitude of Mrs. Cheeseborough and Mr. Gump towardthe police in general. When one considers that there are hundredsof these minor cases to each sensational crime, the great necessity ofcontrol at this point is readily apparent. Departments which handlethese lesser matters with dispatch obtain the confidence and goodwill of the citizens as a whole. Moreover, I find that those depart-ments which are lax in minor matters are also careless or inefficientin the more important problems.

In brief, the follow-up system consists of assigning to an officerin the records bureau, the head of it in some cases or even the chiefhimself, the responsibility for following through all matters requiringpolice attention to see that they are correctly disposed of. To thisend he must check and file all complaints and inspect each subse-

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quent report to see that the complaint is handled correctly and quickly.A card is prepared and marked as to when a supplementary or follow-up report should be received, and if not received the follow-up officermust have power to demand such reports. This officer should decide

whether a case has been properly handled; whether the rules andregulations of the department have beeen followed; whether thereports have proper form, content, and accuracy; whether the com-plainant has received every service due him; whether all possibleclues and leads have been followed; and in short assure himself

that the chief would be completely satisfied with everything doneon the case. Moreover, the follow-up officer, being located in therecords and identification bureau, is in the most strategic place toassist the investigating officers. As soon as a crime complaint isreceived he should search the Modus Operandi files, the files ofsuspicious persons, the pawned property files, files of wanted persons,and other facilities provided by the records bureau. The investi-

gating officer should confer with him at the first possible momentto see that all possible leads have been obtained.

Obviously an ordinary clerk cannot be assigned to this position.The position requires and warrants the most alert, intelligent, andable police officer available. He must know how each branch of thedepartment operates and every angle of practical police work andscientific criminal investigation. And in addition he must have sucha personality that he can obtain what he wants from his fellowofficers and at the same time preserve their loyalty and good will.Chief 0. W. Wilson of the Wichita, Kansas police department hasprepared an excellent statement of the follow-up system for theJune 1932 issue of PUBLIC MANAGEMENT, the official journalof the City Managers' Association. This article is being reprintedand I wish that chiefs throughout the country might read it.

Analyses of Police Problems

The second major function of the police records system is itsuse in presenting police officials with analyses of police problems andpolice operations. The first thing that a chief should know is whatcrimes are being committed, the number of each kind, the time of dayor week at which they occur, where they take place, and how thefigures compare with those of previous periods.

Then there are such questions as what proportion of crimes havebeen solved. What is the tendency with traffic accidents? Howdo arrests and successful prosecutions compare with preceding years?

672 DONALD C. STONE

Are more or less men actually on patrol duty? And a host of othermatters on which a police executive must have information if heis to make a success of the department. The chief and other superiorofficers should be presented with some of this information each day,some of it each week or month and the rest at the end of the yearor as occasion warrants. A little over a year ago in making an in-stallation of a records system in the Pasadena, California, policedepartment, I designed a consolidated daily report and also a monthlyreport which the Committee on Uniform Crime Records of the Inter-national Association of Chiefs of Police adopted and distributedto cities all over the country. Indeed, so many cities requested asupply of them that we had a large number run off which areavailable to interested persons at wholesale cost. You will note thatthe information required by the monthly report is much more ex-tensive than that needed daily. The daily report is suitable forcities of any size, but smaller cities, for example, those of under25,000 inhabitants, need not go into quite so much detail on theirmonthly reports. I suggest that such cities condense this standardform of the Commitee on Uniform Crime Records to meet their localrequirements. These forms may be obtained at cost from our officesat 850 E. 58th St., Chicago.

In the matter of the distribution and assignment of the force,the analyses of crime conditions and police hazards prove indis-pensable. First of all, we must know the volume of police workduring each hour of the day in order to know what is the mostequitable distribution of the force on the several reliefs. In thesecond place, if we are to distribute the burden of work equally, wemust be informed of the volume of police hazards and other mattersrequiring the time and attention of officers in every area of the city.By police hazards, I refer to any characteristic of the city or itspopulation which requires constant supervision or attention by thepolice, as for example, high-valued property, poorly lighted streets,the congestion of a large number of criminals or delinquents in abad housing area, amusement parks, pool rooms, social clubs, andestablishments containing goods that are easily taken and identified.

Now, if beats are established all of equal size and withoutrecognition of the volume or time required in handling these hazardsand duties, burdens will fall inequitably upon various members of thedepartment. As a basis for distributing patrol, the city should bedivided into small districts containing four to eight blocks, more inthe case of large cities and the police hazards, crime conditions, and

RECORDS SYSTEM 673

other matters requiring police attention should be charted by thesedistricts. It is not a difficult matter to determine the average length oftime that it takes to investigate crimes or other matters or to performsuch duties as trying windows, doors, inspecting hotel registers, danceballs, and so on. Then by combining these districts, individual beatscan be constructed which place equal burdens upon the members ofthe force. Moreover, in analyzing the police problems in this manner,the adequacy of the force can be more closely identified and policepolicies more effectively developed.

The same principles apply in the assignment of officers to specialunits of the force, such as traffic, and criminal investigation. Ob-viously traffic patrols should be established on those streets whichanalyses of accidents reveal to be the most hazardous. Moreover, byanalyzing the types of crimes investigated by members of the detectivebureau and the results obtained, not only can the adequacy of thebureau itself be determined but the relative aptitude of each officermaking such investigation. By keeping an individual record of eachofficer we are able to determine which officers are really earningtheir salt and the chief of detectives also has a factual basis for re-turning incompetents to the uniformed force. These are just a fewillustrations of practical uses of analyses of police records.

Records Assist in the Identification of Crime

Now we come to the third function of records namely the assist-ance provided by the follow-up officer in the detection of criminals.The use of fingerprints and photography has been so well establishedin this country as to require no argument, although surprising as itmay seem, I was recently called in to reorganize a police departmentin a city of 50,000 inhabitants in which no fingerprint work what-ever was being done.

The part which I should like to emphasize is that fingerprinting,photography, and other identification methods are all an integral partof the records bureau, none of which can be isolated from the restwithout causing severe injury to the system as a whole. I say thiswith special emphasis, because the tendency of many fingerprintexperts is to create a separate unit shrouded in mystery. Finger-prints are only one of many identification services which must beutilized by the police department. When searching for clues, thefollow-up officer or other records bureau officer should not be handi-capped by having part of the records in a separate portion of thebuilding. Fingerprint experts and other employees must all fit into

674 DONALD C. STONE

one co-ordinated unit designed to serve the entire police department.There are two aspects of identification services which I should

like to mention in particular. The first is the use of Modus Operandiand the second is the use of single fingerprints.

Modus Operandi, as a police term, refers to the identification ofa criminal through knowledge of his particular methods of operation.As you all well know, a criminal usually commits the same offensein a similar manner or in any event will leave tell-tale traces behindhim which when discovered may lead to his detection. An experiencedofficer will be familiar with the methods employed by many local andmigratory crooks. However, memory cannot always be relied uponand unfortunately when an experienced officer dies his knowledgepasses with him.

To make the knowledge of such officers a permanent part of thedepartment, a system of Modus Operandi records has been developed.I find that practically all police departments of Europe are employingM. 0., particularly England where it originated, and that many de-partments in this country both large and small are rapidly taking itup. In practice the Modus Operandi system consists of files of cardson which are classified the methods by which major crimes have beencommitted and major criminals operate. Let us take a case of bur-glary for example. A separate card is prepared for each of thefollowing:

(1) The kind of property attacked, that is whether it is a chain store,a bank, a freight car, etc.

(2) The manner of entry, such as through the rear door, basementwindow or transom.

(3) The means of attack, that is the kind of tool, device, or trickemployed in gaining entry, i.e., ladder, rope, etc.

(4) The object of attack, that is, the articles toward which entry wasdirected, such as silverware, jewelry, money, clothing, silks, etc.

(5) And finally the trademark which refers to the personal idiosyn-crasies or particular methods which serve to distinguish -thiscriminal from other criminals who may have committed the sameoffenses in the same general way. I refer to such practices asthe raiding of an icebox, poisoning of a dog, turning on theradio, changing clothes, or other peculiar acts.

Within each of these Modus Operandi divisions, a classificationis developed and the cards containing a brief statement of the crimeand the offender are filed accordingly. All physical defects ofcriminals, and all names, aliases, nicknames, etc., are indexed.

When a new crime is committed, the peculiar characteristics orM. 0. as it is called, are compared with similar characteristics in the

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files of past crimes, thereby revealing suspects or other clues. Or ifa man is in custody known or suspected of a particular M. 0., thefiles may be searched to find out what unsolved crimes have beencommitted in the same way, thus providing the police with an effec-tive wedge for questioning him.

Vingle Fingerprints

A police subject in which I was particularly interested duringmy inspection of European police departments this past summer wasthat of Single Fingerprints. I refer to the methods used in classify-ing prints of individual digits, and the use of single fingerprint filesin making identifications from latent prints left at the scene of acrime. Three or four police departments in this country have givenconsiderable attention to this phase of criminal detection, outstand-ing among which are Los Angeles, and Berkeley, California; andWichita, Kansas. I had heard that practically every department inEurope maintained single fingerprint files and was obtaining excellentresults from them. The cities I visited confirmed this.

In Scotland Yard during the first six months of this year, 300identifications were made solely from single fingerprint evidence.In Berlin, during 1931, 214 identifications were made from latentsingle fingerprints. In the City of Amsterdam, Holland, 52 identi-fications were made during the past year. In Paris an average of150 identifications are made in a year. In Brussels, 12 identifica-tions were made last year.

In studying their methods and successes, I find that we havebeen overlooking a very important aspect of criminal identificationin this country. Even their very small police departments, par-ticularly those in England, maintain single fingerprint files. Theymay not operate ten fingerprint files as this work is all done by thecentral clearing house at Scotland Yard, but it is the consensus ofopinion that each local police unit should maintain its own singlefingerprint and modus operandi files.

A single fingerprint according to Chief Inspector Harry Battleyof Scotland Yard must recognize the following three essentials:

(1) A sufficient area of the print must be available for scrutiny.(2) The basis of classification must be upon readily visible charac-

teristics which can be identified even if the impression of theprint is distorted or imperfect.

(3) Single fingerprints must be filed in collections in which any oneprint can be classified and filed separately and thereby easilydiscovered when search is made by its classification formula.

DONALD C. STONE

Some police departments as in Berlin use the Henry Systemwith certain refinements with respect to ridge tracing and countingas a basis .for the single fingerprint classification. Scotland Yardpreviously employed such a system, but experience demonstrated thatthe ridge characteristics assumed a different appearance as the re-sult of a difference in depressure. Moreover, even with the refine-ments of this system the classification was not sufficiently specificand exact to make search an easy matter.

As a result Chief Inspector Harry Battley and his assistant ofthe fingerprint bureau at New Scotland Yard have developed a newplan of classification which has produced excellent results. TheBureau of Social Hygiene has cooperated in publishing Chief In-spector Battley's manual of his system. This manual, called "SingleFingerprints," describes in great detail the technique of classifyingthe prints and using the files. I refer here only to two or threemain principles which illustrate the method and value of the system.

The Battley system employs a magnifying glass fitted with awindow at the base on the center of which is marked a spot andabout which are inscribed seven concentric circles of three, five,seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, and fifteen millimeter radius respectively.In using this glass the center spot in the window is placed upon aparticular point of the impression such as the top of the core, andposition readings of other points of the impression are taken by refer-ence to the circle in which they fall.

Let us analyze first the classification of whorls for example whichwill illustrate the methods. The first classification is made with theuse of the magnifying glass, by placing the spot in the window onthe summit of the first recurving ridge constituting the core. Theprint is classified as A, B, C, D, E, F, G. or H, according to thecircle on the window of the glass in which the bottom of the firstrecurving ridge of the core appears.

The smaller spirals fall within the center circle, i. e., the "A"circle, and these are again sub-classified into five groups by refer-ence to the type of core.

Further sub-classifications of the A, B, C, D, etc., types aremade in three ways, first, according to the position of the delta uponthe window of the magnifying glass with reference to the core; sec-ond, by ridge tracing, and third, by ridge counting. These threemethods provide five subdivisions, namely:

(1) By the circle reading of the left-hand delta.(2) By ridge tracing of the print, i. e., inner, meeting, or outer.

RECORDS SYSTEM 677

(3) By the circle reading of the right-hand delta.

(4) By ridge counting from the left-hand delta to the core.(5) By ridge counting from the right-hand delta to the core.

The refinements provided in this classification are very muchgreater than under the Henry system. By illustration, four whorlssubdivided by ridge tracing under the Henry scheme may fall intoany one of eighty-one sub-groups. Disregarding ridge tracing andusing the special lined glass for reference to the circles in which thedeltas fall, four whorls under the Dattley scheme may fall into anyone of 16,777,216 sub-groups.

Single fingerprints are filed only of persons guilty of breakingand entering and similar offenses in which there is a likelihood oflatent prints. An extra set of prints of all such offenders is takenon thin paper at the time the regular ten fingerprint cards are pre-pared. Each print is cut and mounted on a card which shows thenumber, name of the digit, the criminal's reference number in theregular identification files, the main fingerprint classification, and thedesignation of the main class and sub-class to which the single printis assigned. The prints of each digit are filed in a separate drawer,as for example, all right thumbs are filed in the first drawer, classifiedaccording to whether they are arches, tented arches, etc., and sub-classified as described above. The right forefinger is filed in thesecond drawer, and so on.

A special sub-collection of single prints from the scene of crimesbut which have not been identified is kept in all the departmentsthat I visited. These photographic copies are classified and filed inaccordance with the regular single print system insofar as it is pos-sible to do so. At Scotland Yard it has been found that about75 per cent of all prints found at the scene of the crime can bedefinitely classified and filed.

Experience has shown that the position of the print or printsupon an article will generally reveal which digit it is. Moreover,when there is but a single impression, there are certain averageswith respect to the types of patterns which are found on particulardigits which assist 'm identifying the impression.

The latent prints are lifted in several ways. In some cases,they are dusted and photographed directly. In others, they are dustedand lifted by means of a transfer paper and then photographed. Atransparent transfer paper, called "Berlinier Folien" is used in Berlinand permits the direct lifting of a print and its study through the

DONALD C. STONE

transparent material employed, without giving a reverse picture ofthe ridge characteristics.

All investigating officers are trained in the search and preserva-tion of latent fingerprint evidence at the scene of the crime. In thelarger city forces, a representative of the fingerprint bureau usuallygoes out on every major crime in search of prints. In this way, Euro-pean police departments obtain much positive evidence and solve manycases which in this country would go undetected.

Need of State Bureau of Identification

Any department in a city with a population of 10,000 and overcan operate Modus Operandi and single fingerprint files. In smallcities they will be very simple, but will prove worth while. Butwhat is most needed is a central clearing house for Modus Operandiand single fingerprints as well as of ten fingerprint records. Certainstates do not yet maintain a central bureau for criminal identifica-tion. Such a bureau should be established immediately in every oneof these for in its effect upon the solving and preventing of crimes,it will far more than repay the expenditure it entails. All policedepartments in each state should submit to it as they do to the De-partment of Justice, copies of fingerprints and statements of theModus Operandi of offenders. The central bureau should maintainall types of personal identification files and facilities for the use oflocal police and other law enforcement agencies. A laboratory andother aids to police investigation are an integral part of such a unit.Specialized investigators and identification experts should be avail-able to departments that are unable to deal with intricate cases.

The bureau should serve as a clearing house on state wide en-forcement problems and submit to police departments circulars ofmajor crimes, persons wanted, property stolen, and other aspects ofpolice work requiring co-ordinated effort. The central bureau shouldmaintain property identification files, receiving descriptions of stolenproperty from all departments as well as descriptions of propertypawned or sold to second-hand shops. The property covered might belimited at the outset to watches, typewriters, autbmobiles, and otherkinds carrying serial numbers. And finally the EuSreau would collectthe uniform crime returns -directly from police departments and sub-mit summaries to the United States Department of Justice.